5. Seventeen - by Ainu Laire
Seventeen
All cultures have a digit
That brings bad luck, you see.
For hobbits, eighty is it
And elves, seventy-three.
Gondorians fear sixty
And dwarves, it's thirteen.
Orcs loathe one hundred fifty,
As for Corsairs? Seventeen.
Once upon a dreary eve
Set sail one lonely ship.
Soon as they took their leave
Their luck started to slip.
They sailed through ghastly storms
And lost their bows and knives.
And enemies attacked in swarms
They nearly lost their lives!
The cunning captain of the boat
Thought of their bad luck.
And then came from his throat:
"Holy mother- hey, a duck!"
Even though the duck meant naught,
He still knew the solution.
He would now not be fraught
And would rid of this pollution.
For he spotted upon his turf
That there were seventeen men.
And as he gazed upon the surf,
He thought up 'Operation: Ben'.
So he told his men this plan
And they all shouted in glee.
And then they grabbed Ben, a man,
And threw him into the Sea.
Hereafter safe, this group of brothers,
This now wise band of sixteen
Spreads this message to all others:
Beware number seventeen!
All cultures have a digit
That brings bad luck, you see.
For hobbits, eighty is it
And elves, seventy-three.
Gondorians fear sixty
And dwarves, it's thirteen.
Orcs loathe one hundred fifty,
As for Corsairs? Seventeen.
Once upon a dreary eve
Set sail one lonely ship.
Soon as they took their leave
Their luck started to slip.
They sailed through ghastly storms
And lost their bows and knives.
And enemies attacked in swarms
They nearly lost their lives!
The cunning captain of the boat
Thought of their bad luck.
And then came from his throat:
"Holy mother- hey, a duck!"
Even though the duck meant naught,
He still knew the solution.
He would now not be fraught
And would rid of this pollution.
For he spotted upon his turf
That there were seventeen men.
And as he gazed upon the surf,
He thought up 'Operation: Ben'.
So he told his men this plan
And they all shouted in glee.
And then they grabbed Ben, a man,
And threw him into the Sea.
Hereafter safe, this group of brothers,
This now wise band of sixteen
Spreads this message to all others:
Beware number seventeen!
This is a work of fan fiction, written because the author has an abiding love for the works of J R R Tolkien. The characters, settings, places, and languages used in this work are the property of the Tolkien Estate, Tolkien Enterprises, and possibly New Line Cinema, except for certain original characters who belong to the author of the said work. The author will not receive any money or other remuneration for presenting the work on this archive site. The work is the intellectual property of the author, is available solely for the enjoyment of Henneth Annûn Story Archive readers, and may not be copied or redistributed by any means without the explicit written consent of the author.
